Scooby Doo and the Haunted Mansion
by TailsLovesCosmo
Summary: Once again, Velma talks the Scooby gang into exploring an old house that's supposed to be haunted. But what if the ghosts are real this time?
1. Can't You Just Give It A Rest, Velma?

SCOOBY DOO AND THE HAUNTED MANSION

Chapter one

"Can't You Just Give It A Rest, Velma?"

"Like, this place is from nowheresville, Scoob!" Shaggy said as he and his best buddy entered the local hangout. He waved at Velma, who was in a corner, reading a very thick book. Shaggy didn't know what it was about, but it looked boring. Of course, anything that wasn't a comic book or a food catalogue was boring to Shaggy. Velma was either angry at him, or completely caught up in her book, as she completely ignored him.

Shaggy sauntered over to the jukebox. He looked through the selections, and then put on a Beatles song. He'd collected all their records, and seriously hoped that the rumors he'd heard about them breaking up were fake.

"Like, let's cut a rug, Velma!" Shaggy cried, grabbing the chubby, bespectacled girl and pulling her from her booth.

"Shaggy! What are you…?" Her book clattered to the floor. "Now you've made me lose my place!"

"Like, what do you want with a stale old book when you've got Mister Cool?" Shaggy said, spinning her around.

"It's a collection of ghostly sightings in this state," Velma explained as she let Shaggy dip her. "Did you know that there's an old mansion that's supposed to be haunted right down the road not three miles from your house?"

"Ghosts?!" Shaggy cried. "Don't we run into enough creeps by accident, without you going looking for trouble?"

"Aren't you the slightest bit curious?" Velma demanded. "We have never encountered a real ghost. Wouldn't you like to see just one that was legitimate?"

"Like, the phony ghosts are scary enough!" Shaggy said. "Remember that magician, Bluestone? He was smiling when they took him off to jail, but I've heard he's been saying he wants a rematch if he ever gets out of stir! He can go anyplace! Locked doors won't keep out a magician!"

"Oh, Shaggy!" Velma said. "If you had your way, you and Scooby would just eat and eat and eat until you burst!"

"Speaking of bursting," Shaggy said, suddenly letting go of Velma. She fell to the floor.

"Hey!" Velma yelled. "Chivalry is dead!"

Shaggy ordered enough food for six people. Then he turned to Scooby Doo. "And what would you like, Scoob?"

"Wive we the wame!" Scooby said.

"You heard him, my good man," Shaggy said, "give him the same. How 'bout you, Velma?"

"Oh brother!" Velma said, rolling her eyes. "After listening to all you're ordering, I've lost my appetite! I'll just wait until Fred and Daphne arrive."

Just out of school, the four friends, and Scooby Doo, had started a ghost busting club. Shaggy had assumed that it was just for fun at first, and had been flabbergasted when Velma had actually gotten them to go out on a mystery. Since then, they'd caught about a dozen crooks pretending to be ghosts to scam people. Shaggy, who believed in ghosts, was always afraid that the next one would be for real. And now Velma was looking up books full of hauntings!

Fred and Daphne appeared just as Shaggy and Scooby were getting their food. Fred had been captain of the high school football team, and Daphne had been head cheerleader. Exactly how they had become friends with super bookworm Velma and laid back hippy Shaggy was a mystery that probably no one would ever be able to solve.

"Hey, guys!" Daphne called.

"Got any new mysteries to solve?" Fred asked. Fred was clearly much more interested in ghost chasing than Daphne, who seemed to just be following her boyfriend around.

"Well," Velma said, digging through her book, "I had found something interesting, but Shaggy made me lose my page! Just a second…"

"Let's get in some dancing while she looks," Daphne suggested.

"You got it, doll!" Fred said.

"Yeah, you guys dance while Scooby and I eat!" Shaggy said. He looked down at his plate. It was nearly empty. He pulled it away from Scooby. "Hey! Like, eat your own food!"

"Heeheeheeheehee!" Scooby laughed.

"Some man's best friend!" Shaggy said.

"Okay, here it is!" Velma said. She looked around. "Where did Daphne and Fred go?"

"Like, they're trippin' the light fantastic!" Shaggy said, as a new song just came on. "Let's join 'em, Velma!"

"What? No!" Velma cried as Shaggy dragged her out to the dance floor again. "Page one hundred and fifty-two! Page one hundred and fifty-two!"

When they finished dancing, Velma opened her book again. "Okay," she said, "page five hundred and…" She glared at Shaggy. The book didn't have five hundred pages! She'd gotten the numbers mixed up some time during the last three songs.

"You two make a really cute couple!" Daphne said, stealing French fries from Fred's plate.

"Like, we're just friends!" Shaggy said. Velma was kind of cute when she wore contacts, which she almost never did because she had sensitive eyes, but Shaggy was no where near ready to settle down.

"Are you sure you don't want me to order you your own fries?" Fred asked as Daphne stole a few more.

"Oh, no, Freddy," Daphne assured him, taking a couple more, "I have to watch my figure!"

"Oh brother," Velma muttered.

"What was that?" Daphne asked.

"I said, oh bother, I can't find it!" Velma said. Daphne was either spacey or a little hard of hearing.

"Like, we don't need to go ghost hunting anyway, right gang?" Shaggy asked.

"Wight, Waggy!" Scooby-Doo agreed.

"Here we go!" Velma said. "Page one hundred and fifty-two! The old Dartmoor house. It says here that it was built in 1792 by Tories fleeing from George Washington's army after the American Revolution."

"Like, don't tell me we're gonna run into the Headless Horseman!" Shaggy said.

"Quiet, you!" Velma said. "The builder, Cornelius Dartmoor, was afraid that the spirits of the men he'd killed in the war would come seeking revenge, so he built his house full of tunnels and secret rooms."

"Like the Winchester Mystery House!" Fred said. "So is Cornelius haunting the old house, or his victims?"

"Cornelius died the day he was supposed to move into the house," Velma said. "Supposedly, he was thrown from his horse."

"Like, that's why I don't ride horses," Shaggy said. "Merry-go-rounds make are more my style. They can't throw you, and no matter how long you ride, you don't have to take the long way home."

"Will you be quiet, dimwit?" Velma said. Sometimes Shaggy got on her last nerve. "As he was dying, he sword that the ghost of his last victim, a huge, red-headed, giant of a man, had appeared, spooking his horse. Since then, the giant has been seen many times, as well as a sad-faced woman in a large bonnet, supposedly Cornelius' wife, Prudence. She apparently never got over Cornelius' death."

"Oh, Fred," Daphne said, grabbing Fred's arm. "Isn't that the most sadly romantic thing you've ever heard? I need a tissue!" She started dabbing at her eyes.

"And this haunted house is only a few miles from where Shaggy lives?" Fred said. "Why didn't we ever explore it before?"

"Hoonnnkk!"

"Well, that was certainly lady-like!" Velma said, rolling her eyes at Daphne. "Anyway, to answer your question, Fred, this book was just published last month by a Professor Ralph Bellows. And apparently, the old house is covered with vines and creepers."

"Feed me, Seymour!" Shaggy said.

"I think you've had enough, already," Velma said. "So, what do you cats think? Shall we go explore it?"

"Nuh-uh!" Shaggy said, shaking his head. "Count me out! It looked like it was gonna rain when we came in here! I'm not going to any old spook house in the rain!"

"Wuh-uh, we neither!" Scooby said.

"Will you do it for a Scooby snack each?" Fred asked. Boy, he really did want to go. Shaggy wondered what an otherwise popular guy like Fred wanted with spook houses and crypts.

"No way, no how!" Shaggy insisted, getting up. "Let's go, Scooby, before they talk us into something we'll both regret!"

"WI'm with you!"

"Three Scooby snacks each?" Velma offered.

Shaggy sighed. "Look, let's cut to the chase, okay? Four each, and we're yours."

"Okay, four it is!" Fred said, tossing eight Scooby snacks in the air.

Shaggy and Scooby fought over the flying Scooby snacks. Since Shaggy never bothered to really chew anything, he was never sure if he got two or three. Scooby got the rest.

"Wooby-Wooby-Woo!" Scooby cried.

And just like that, they were off on their latest ghost hunt. As Shaggy would later put it, "Man, I shoulda just stayed in bed!"

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2 Zoinks! Here We Go Again!

SCOOBY DOO AND THE HAUNTED MANSION

Chapter Two

"Zoinks! Here we go again!"

Shaggy had been right about the weather. By the time they reached the Mystery Machine, they were nearly soaked. As they headed down the road that led to Shaggy's house, the storm grew worse.

"Like, let me off at my pad!" Shaggy said, trying to open the door and jump out.

Velma grabbed him by the back of his shirt. "What, do you want to _be_ a ghost, ninny?!?"

"Scooby, help me out here!" Shaggy said.

"Wi'm wared woo, Waggy!" Scooby said, cowering in the back of the van. "Wut Wi'm Wot Wrazy!"

"Et tu, Scooby?" Shaggy demanded. "Now I know that I'm alone here!"

Realizing he wasn't going anywhere until they got to the old mansion, Shaggy slumped back in his seat. For at least the thousandth time, he found himself wondering how it was that Scooby Doo could talk. Sure, he had a speech impediment, but the very fact that a dog could talk at all was amazing. He remembered when he'd first found the stray, scared and hungry in an alley. Scooby had never been able to tell him how he had ended up there.

"What else does the book say, Velma?" Fred asked, trying to see the road.

"Just that the woman always disappears when the red-headed giant appears," Velma said. "I guess he scares Prudence away."

Daphne was fiddling with the radio. "…an inch and a half of rain is predicted today…and for all you Libras, tomorrow is your lucky…won't run, when they hear…Armstrong said the moon was like…in love with an ostrich…I am not a crook!"

"Daphne!" Velma cried. "Will you stick to one station! Jinkies, you're starting to drive me right up the wall!"

Daphne muttered something. Velma wasn't sure, but it sounded like "fatty four-eyes." She decided to pretend she didn't hear that. Besides, they were there.

"Wow!" Fred said. "Now _that_ looks haunted!"

"Zoinks!" Shaggy yelled, pulling the blanket in the back over his head and shaking. "I'd like to go home now, please!"

"We woo, wease!" Scooby cried, fighting Shaggy over the blanket.

"Oh, hush!" Velma said. "We can hardly leave now that we've gotten here."

"I am _not_ going out in that downpour!" Daphne insisted. "I just got a new hairdo!"

"Oh come on," Velma said, "your hair looks the same it always has!"

"What would _you_ know about fashion?" Daphne demanded.

"What would you know about anything else?" Velma demanded.

"Now, now, girls," Fred said.

"Mind your own business!" they both told him.

"I said it first!" Daphne said.

Shaggy had been using this diversion to sneak out of the mystery machine. Unfortunately, as he stepped down onto the sidewalk, he slipped on the wet ground. He started sliding. "Whoa! Hey! Wha? Help!" Crash! He landed in a bush.

"Hee hee hee hee hee!" Scooby laughed. "Wou wook wunny!"

"Man's best friend!" Shaggy said. "I should've gotten a French poodle!"

"Wow," Fred said, opening the driver's door, "who would have thought that Shaggy would be in such a hurry to get in there?"

"He was probably trying to run away," Velma said, holding a newspaper over her head as she got out. "Come on, princess!" She opened Daphne's door and yanked her out.

"Ahh! My hair! My hair!" Daphne wailed. She grabbed the newspaper from Velma and ran up to the old house. She slipped on the second step, and fell backwards, landing on Shaggy.

"Like, ouch!" Shaggy cried. "Get off! You weigh a ton!"

"Did you just call me fat?!?" Daphne cried. "Fred! Shaggy says I'm fat!"

"Cool!" Fred said, examining the old house, oblivious to Daphne's whining. "Look, Velma! Gable windows! And the latticework on the door! Is that lapis lazuli?"

"Like, who'da thunk Fred was such a nerd?" Shaggy said.

"Weah!" Scooby said. "We would wear wasses!"

"Yeah," Shaggy agreed, "he should wear glasses! Let's see how he'd look!" He took Velma's glasses.

"Hey!" Velma cried. "Give them back, Shaggy! You know I'm blind as a bat without those!"

"Like just a sec, Velma!" Shaggy said. He put the glasses on Fred. "Hey! You look like the science teacher in school! You know, the one that threw me out of class!"

"Your experiment turned the entire lab and everything in it bright purple!" Velma pointed out, staggering around, still trying to find her glasses. "It took four days for it to wear off! Oof!" She'd just walked into the wall.

"Wow!" Fred said. "I can't see a thing! Your eyes must be really lousy, Velma!"

"Oh sure, poke fun at the poor blind fat girl!" Velma said. "Now give me back my glasses!"

"Here," Fred said, chuckling. "But you know, you look pretty good without them."

Whap! Daphne had just hit Fred with the soggy newspaper. "Don't flirt with other girls in front of me!"

"Okay," Shaggy said, "like, we've seen the old spook house. Time to go! I'll bet we can't get in, anyway!" He leaned against the door. It swung open. "Whoooaaa-oof!"

"Good work, Shaggy!" Velma said, stepping over him. "We can always count on you!"

"Yeah, that's me all right," Shaggy said. "Anything for a laugh!"

"Hee hee hee hee hee!" Scooby chuckled.

"One more 'hee hee hee hee hee' out of you today, and I'm trading you in for a cat!" Shaggy said.

"Wat?" Scooby said, looking around. "Where? Where?" He stepped on Shaggy.

"Argh! Get off, you hippopotomus!"

"Wat's wust wude!" Scooby said.

"That's just rude?" Shaggy said. "Hey, I call 'em like I see 'em, chum!"

"Will you two stop clowning around?" Velma demanded. She and Fred had switched on powerful flashlights. The furniture was horribly discolored. The couch and easy chair were torn, exposing stuffing and, in the case of the couch, two springs. The carpet was covered in a thin layer of dust.

"No one's been here in years," Fred said. His light fell on a portrait of a woman with curly blonde hair, holding a parasol. "You think that's Prudence?" he asked. "She was beautiful!"

"I said stop flirting with other girls in front of me!" Daphne said.

"Don't worry, Daffy," Velma said, examining the picture. "Prudence is long dead. It's not like she's going to show up and steal Fred from you."

"Uh, actually, I once saw this movie where a ghost _did_ try to steal somebody's girlfriend," Shaggy said. He had a much smaller flashlight he'd found under the blanket in the Mystery Machine.

"Maybe you wouldn't be so scared of ghosts if you didn't watch scary movies," Velma pointed out.

"Hey," Shaggy said, noticing another painting. His light wasn't strong enough to show what it was clearly, so he started towards it. "I don't mind seein' ghosts in my own living room, as long as they stay in the tv set!"

"Maybe someday somebody'll make a movie about ghosts coming out of a television set," Velma said. "What's that you've found there, Shag?"

"Zoinks!" Shaggy cried. He'd finally gotten close enough to get a good look at the painting. It was a nightmarish scene of a cemetery at night. Crouching ghouls fed on...humans. He turned the light off. "Nothing!" he cried. "I see nothing, Colonel Hogan! Nothing!" He knew if Fred and Velma saw it, they'd be convinced there was a mystery there someplace, and he was right.

"Normal people don't have scenes of horror like this on their walls," Velma said, looking over the painting. She squinted to read the signature. "Richard Upton Pickman. I've heard about him. He was a real eccentric. Very popular painter once, but he became more and more obsessed with horror. Eventually, even his biggest fan dropped him, and he disappeared right about then. This must be his last major work, "Ghoul Feeding!"

"Is it valuable?" Fred asked.

"If it's authentic, it is," Velma said. "But only if you can find a wealthy collector who's into horror and fantasy art. Most people don't have a strong enough stomach for Pickman's works."

"Like, I sure don't!" Shaggy said. "Can we go now?"

"Come on, Shaggy, where's your sense of advenutre?" Velma demanded. "Whoever owned this house last must have been a connoiseur of horror and fantasy."

"You mean he, like, cooked eyes of newts and wings of bats?" Shaggy asked. "What a freaky menu!"

"Weah!" Scooby agreed. "Yuck!"

"It figures the only connoiseurs you've ever heard about were cooks!" Velma said. "Let's see if whoever lived here last collected any rare old books."

The next room proved to be a dilapidated old study. One of the legs on the old desk inside had collapsed, causing it to sag far to one side. The bookcase looked like it was about to collapse too. Velma ran her light over the dusty old books inside. "Just collections of ghost stories," she said. "Weird, but nothing out of the ordinary. Edgar Allen Poe. Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Robert Bloch. Hello. What's this? 'An account of Witchcraft in Our Fair Village." That looks promising. As she took the book out of the bookcase, her hand brushed against something. "Bingo!" she cried. "A hidden switch." She flipped the switch. The bookcase swung open slowly, protesting loudly after many years of disuse.

_Crrreeeeaaaakkkkkk!!!_

"Voila!" Velma said. "Ye olde secret passageway!"

"Great!" Fred said. "This case keeps getting better and better!"

"I'm not going in there!" Daphne cried. "It's probably filled with spiders and cobwebs!"

"Like, count me and Scooby out too!" Shaggy said.

"Weah! Wount wim and we wout woo!" Scooby agreed.

"Okay," Fred told them. "Come on, Velma! Too bad we'll be leaving you three here in the dark, with just Shaggy's little flashlight!"

"Yeah, it's a shame, really," Velma agreed, starting into the dark passageway. "But if you see a ghost, remember, it's quicker to jump out the window than it is to run for the door!"

Fred and Velma moved deeper into the secret passageway. As the light from their flashlights grew dimmer, Shaggy, Scooby, and Daphne looked at each other.

"Like, wait for us, you guys!" Shaggy cried, making a dash for the passageway.

"Weah, wait wor wus!" Scooby agreed, following Shaggy.

"I can always wash my hair in the rain later!" Daphne said, racing after them.

The three crashed into Fred and Velma, knocking them over. The two large flashlights hit the floor and went out, plunging the five into total darkness.

To be continued


	3. Chapter 3: Shaggy and Scooby Doo

SCOOBY DOO AND THE HAUNTED MANSION

Chapter Three

"Shaggy and Scooby Doo Get A Clue!"

"You nitwits!" That was Velma. "Remind me not to scare these clowns with threats of leaving them in the dark again, Fred!"

"I'd write it down, but I can't see a thing!" Fred said. They could hear scratching on the floor. "I can't find my flashlight! Having any luck, Velma?"

"I've got mine," Velma said, "but it's not working! Something broke or came loose. Maybe I could fix it if I could see what I was doing! Shaggy! Do you still have your penlight?"

"Like, I need a penlight to find my penlight!" Shaggy said.

"I want to go home now!" Daphne cried. "I'm lying in something sticky! Probably cobwebs!"

"We should have left you guys at the malt shop!" Velma said. "I don't know why you guys always tag along!"  
"Like, are you kidding me?!" Shaggy cried. "You dragged me along! You always drag me along!"

"You need to get out more!" Velma said. "Cooped up in your room listening to the Rolling Stones and reading Famous Monsters of Filmland! You're getting weird, Shaggy!"

"Says the girl with the ghost obsession!" Shaggy said.

"I'm not obsessed with ghosts," Velma insisted. "I just need to know."

"Like, know what?" Shaggy asked.

"Everything!" Velma cried, as if Shaggy was a moron for asking her.

"Like, I just had to ask!" Shaggy said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey! I found my flashlight!" Fred cried. "Darn! It doesn't work either!"

"Well, let's get that secret door open and get out of here!" Daphne said. They could hear scratching on the wall. "Where the heck is the switch on this side?"

"Ut oh!" Shaggy said. "Maybe there _is_ no way to open it from this side. I saw that in a late, late, late movie, 'House of the Ghost of the Son of the Bride of Frankenstein!'"

"Good grief!" Velma cried. "What a mouthfull! Was that the longest movie title ever?"

"'Course not!" Shaggy said. "That was 'The Story of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent!'"

"That's not a title!" Velma said. "That's a book report!"

"Quit talking about monster movies and help me find a way out of here!" Daphne cried. "I think I've got something in my hair!"

"Like, that would make one crazy title for a rock and roll song!" Shaggy said. "I Think I've Got Something In My Hair! Now, what rhymes with 'hair?' Hey! I found my penlight! But it feels like I've got a screw loose!"

"I've always known that!" Fred, Velma, and Daphne all said.

"Like, hardy har har!" Shaggy said. "Hey, Velma, see if you can fix this thing!"

"I can't see anything!" Velma said. "I may as well have let Fred keep my glasses!"

It took a bit of doing, but Shaggy finally managed to get his penlight to Velma. She ran her hands over it. "It feels like it just…" A thin beam of light cut through the darkness. "…got unscrewed. All you had to do was tighten it, dummy!"

"Can you see well enough to fix the other lights?" Fred asked.

"Never mind that now!" Daphne cried. "Shine it on my head! I'm positive there's something crawling through my hair!"

"It's probably just a little spider," Velma said.

"Ahh!" Daphne cried. "I've got spiders in my head! Get them out! Get them out! They'll lay eggs in my brain and I'll go crazy!"

"Too late!" Velma said. "Okay, I see the problem. Give me a couple of minutes to fix this, guys!" The only sound for several minutes were Daphne scratching her head, and her cry, "Get out! Get out of my hair!" Then the light came back on.

"Wey, Waggy!" Scooby Doo said. "I wound womething!" He was off in a corner, scratching at the wall.

"Quiet, dumb-dumb!" Shaggy hissed, placing his hand over the dog's mouth. "If Fred or Velma hear you, we'll never get out of this spooky house!"

"What are you two talking about?" Fred asked.

"N-nothing!" Shaggy said.

"Weah!" Scooby said, pulling free of Shaggy. "I widn't wind wothing!"

"Like, way to go, genius!" Shaggy said, as Fred started over towards them.

"What did you find, Scooby?" Fred demanded.

"Like, I found out that he's a stool pigeon!" Shaggy said as Scooby pointed at the wall.

"Velma!" Fred cried. "Come take a look at this!"

"What is it?" Velma asked.

Fred's reply was lost in Daphne's earsplitting scream.

"What is your problem?!?" Velma demanded.

"Look!" Daphne sobbed, holding her hand into the beam of light. "Blood! My head's bleeding!"

"That's because you keep scratching it with your long nails!" Velma said.

"Fred!" Daphne sobbed. "Velma's picking on me!"

"Velma, stop picking on Daphne and look at this already!" Fred said.

"My hero!" Daphne snorted.

"Like, please tell me you didn't just find a red-headed giant!" Shaggy begged.

"Don't be silly!" Velma said. "Or, rather, sillier!" It's an old chest, stuck in a hole in the wall!"

"You mean like pirates and yo yo ho and a bottle of cider?" Shaggy asked.

"Quiet, you!" Velma said. "Fred. Let's see if we can get it free of the wall. Come on, chicken little, give us a hand."

Shaggy started clapping. "Yay, Velma! You can do it!"

"Quit clowning around, dumby!" Velma said.

It was a difficult job, but Fred, Shaggy, and Velma finally managed to drag the chest into the middle of the room.

"Man, like this thing is heavy!" Shaggy said, sitting down on the chest. "Okay, so what do you say we take it and scram out of this scene?"

"That would be stealing," Fred pointed out.

"But wouldn't just coming in here like we did be breaking and entering?" Shaggy pointed out.

"Don't get so technical!" Velma said. "Get up so I can see if I can pick this lock." She looked over at Daphne. "Hey, spider head, got a bobby pin I can borrow?"

"Not if you're going to call me names!" Daphne said, folding her arms.

"Wey! Wook what I wound!" Scooby said.

"I told you to stop looking for things, Benedict Scooby!" Shaggy said.

"What is it now, Scooby?" Fred asked.

"Another lever?" Velma said. She flipped it. Two small doors opened.

"Uh oh!" Shaggy said to Scooby. "I know what this means!"

"Weah!" Scooby Doo said. "Waggy and Wooby wo wat away!"

"You and Scooby Doo go through that door, Shaggy," Fred said, pointing towards the smaller of the two openings, "while Daphne, Velma, and I go through this one."

"Not unless I can get the other big flashlight working," Velma said. It took her a few minutes, but the light finally came back on. "Hah! I am a genius!"

"Even if you do say so yourself!" Daphne said.

"Actually," Velma said, "I think I'll go with Shaggy and Scooby. Red over there is starting to bug me."

"It's no day in the park in your company either!" Daphne said, sticking her tongue out at Velma.

"Why you…" Velma started to say. Shaggy grabbed her arm.

"Like, come on, Velma, before you say something you'll regret later!" He led her to one of the secret doorways. "Uh…but, like, what if these doors close up on us too?"  
"We'll just have to block the doors with something," Velma suggested. She looked around the room. There was really nothing in there except for an old, rusty shovel, and an even rustier metal bucket.

After making sure the doors wouldn't close on them, Fred and Daphne went through the doorway on the left, while Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby went through the door on the right.

"Like, I oughtta have my head examined!" Shaggy said a few minutes later. "We don't even know if we can get out of here, and we're going deeper into this creepy old joint?"

"Oh, quiet, you big chicken!"

"Cluck cluck cluck!" Scooby said, flapping his front legs.

"Et tu, Scooby?" Shaggy said. "I just realized, right about now is when we should see a ghost!"

"Oh, come on now, Shag!" Velma insisted. "That doesn't automatically happen every time we enter an old house!"

But apparently Shaggy knew the tv show better than Velma did. For suddenly, a huge figure appeared in the beam of Velma's flashlight. He had flaming red hair and a long red beard, and was dressed in workman's clothes of more than a century ago!

"Jinkies!" Velma cried. "The red-headed giant!"

"Zoinks!" Shaggy shrieked.

"Wet we wout wof were!" Scooby Doo yelled.

And the chase was on.

Meanwhile, at police headquarters, the staff sergeant called to an officer, "Any luck?"

"Sorry, Sarge," the policeman said. "None of the Mystery Inc. kids are home."

"Keep trying," the sergeant said. "They need to know that Bluestone the Magician has just escaped from prison! How, we'll probably never know!"

"I know he swore revenge on those kids, Sarge," the officer said, "but he seemed like a nice guy. Do you really think he'd hurt them?"

"Maybe not," the sergeant said, "but he wasn't the only inmate to escape today! Apparently he was with Louie the Loon!"

"But Louie the Loon's a killer!"

"I know! And he's believed armed! That's why you've got to warn those kids!"

Zoinks! Sounds like Scooby and the gang may have bitten off more than they can chew this time! What will happen next? Please keep reading to find out!


	4. Chapter 4: The Beginning of the End

SCOOBY DOO AND THE HAUNTED MANSION

Chapter Four

"The Beginning of the End"

Shaggy and Scooby leaped into Velma's arms. Running wildly, Velma raced through the house, into a long corridor. At the moment, none of them stopped to wonder why this part of the house had lit candles on the walls.

"Hey!" Velma suddenly cried. "Why am I carrying you two bozos? Get off of me!" She dumped them on the floor and kept running.

"Like, here he comes, Scoob!" Shaggy cried. They ducked into a doorway.

The red-headed giant entered the room. It turned out to be a bathroom. Two lifeguards were waiting for him.

"All right, don't push, don't shove," Shaggy said, taking the giant by the hand. "Please stay in the shallow part of the pool, and no splashing the other patrons."

Scooby jumped him from behind. The giant fell in the bathtub. Shaggy and Scooby raced out of the room, slamming the door behind them. They ran down the corridor, disappearing into another room.

The red-headed giant jumped out of the tub and raced into the hall. He looked around. Four doors. He decided to try the first one. Splat! Shaggy hit him with a coconut custard pie with whipped cream that he'd been saving for a snack later. He ran past the ghost and into another room.

"Arrgh!" the giant yelled. He tried another door. Scooby was mopping the floor. "Watch wout! Wet wloor!" he cried. The ghost rushed at him, slipped, and fell. Scooby bounced off of him, then leaped out the door, closing it behind him. "Heeheeheeheehee!"

The ghost was really furious now. The third room seemed empty. He looked around, then slammed the door, not noticing that Shaggy and Scooby had been hiding behind it.

"Like, I think I'm about out of tricks, Scoob!" Shaggy said softly.

"Weah, WI'm wout of wicks woo, Waggy!" Scooby agreed. "Wexcept wubble wum!"

"Except bubble gum?" Shaggy said. "Well, let me have all you've got! I have an idea!"

"Jinkies!" Velma muttered, creeping around the old house. "This place has been swept recently! A ghost wouldn't do that!" She noticed a light ahead of her. She followed it, and at last came into a room with a fireplace and a piano. The light seemed to be coming from a woman. She was dressed in 18th century clothing, with a bonnet, and was dusting the piano. When she finished, she sat down and started to play.

"Hey, lady!" Velma said. "I don't know who you think you're fooling with your ghost tricks, but…"

The woman spun around, stared at Velma for a moment, then…just disappeared.

"Jinkies!" Velma cried, taking a couple of steps backwards. She shook her head. "No! No way! That was _not_ a real ghost!" She started examining the piano for a secret trap door. When that failed, she started checking the rest of the room.

The red-headed giant opened the last door. Shaggy had heard him coming, and was blowing a huge bubble. As the ghost started towards him, the bubble popped all over his face.

"Like, let's go, Scoob! He's really mad now!"

"RI'm with wou, Waggy!" Scooby said.

Shaggy and Scooby ran through the old house. They came to a door. Shaggy opened it, and a ladder came down and clobbered him.

"Like, ouch!" he cried.

"Shh!" Scooby hissed. "Whe whost will wear wou!"

"I know the ghost will hear me!" Shaggy said, rubbing his head. "But that really smarts!" Then he noticed the ladder led upstairs. "Quick, Scoob! Let's climb up, then close the door behind us! Ol' spook face'll never find us up there!"

"Weah! Wood widea, Waggy!" Scooby agreed. Scooby ran up the stairs. Shaggy followed. From the floor over head, they managed to raise the ladder and close the door.

"Perfect!" Shaggy said. "That ol' ghost'll never get us now! Sure is dark up here, though!" Shaggy turned on his penlight. He shined it around.

"Man, this is one creepy place, Scooby!" Shaggy said, as his light picked up old furniture, most of it badly damaged.

"Weah! Wreepy!" Scooby agreed.

Shaggy's light suddenly fell on a bony white hand. He shined it up a bony white arm to a grinning skull.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy cried. "A sk-sk-skeleton!"

Forgetting that a ghost was waiting downstairs for them, Shaggy and Scooby fought over which of them would lower the ladder and climb down out of the attic first. The decision was taken from them when Scooby slipped and fell.

"Ri'm rokay!" he called up to Shaggy, although he was a little dizzy.

"You're okay?" Shaggy said, leaning far over to check on his best friend. "Whew! Man, that's good, Scoob, I…ahhh!" Shaggy proceeded to fall as well, landing right on Scooby's back. The great dane's legs buckled on him. Then the red-bearded giant showed up. Scooby's limbs straightened out, and he started running in place. After a moment, he took off down the corridor, the ghost in hot pursuit.

"Like, step on it, Scoob!" Shaggy cried. "He's right behind us!"

"Ri ram, ri ram!" Scooby insisted, turning the corner. They dived for the closest door, slammed it shut.

"Like, we must be in a bedroom, Scoob," Shaggy hissed.

The ghost opened the door and found himself facing a small room with a four poster bed, a dresser with a mirror, and a wardrobe. He went to the wardrobe first, throwing it open. Nothing but a few old wooden clothes hangers. A spider jumped on his arm. He danced around, swatting at it, and fell on the dresser. The mirror spun around, bopping him upside the head. Scooby leaped out from behind the mirror and ran for the door. The ghost pushed the mirror away and got back on his feet.

"First the hippy, then the dog!" he growled in a guttural voice. Since he'd looked everywhere else, he tried under the bed.

Shaggy, who had been hiding on top of the canopy, was about to jump down and run when he saw this. Then he heard a rip. "Uh…uh oh!" There was another rip, and down he went, crashing onto the bed. It broke, pinning the ghost under it. While Fred or Velma would have grabbed him right then and there, Shaggy firmly believed in discretion before value. In other words, he ran like a chicken with its head cut off. …

"Still can't reach any of the Mystery Inc. kids," the desk sergeant said. "Brody, you'd better see if you can find them!"

"Right, Sarge!" Brody, a tall, skinny man that might have looked like an older Shaggy if he'd had long hair and a soul patch said. "They need to know they're not just facing some nut in a ghost costume this time." Brody stepped outside and headed for his car.

…

Fred and Daphne found themselves in a trophy room. Heads of fierce creatures stared blankly at them.

"How barbaric!" Daphne cried, looking away in disgust. "Let's get out of here, Fred! Those poor animals!" She shuddered.

"Just a minute, Daphne," Fred said, looking at the glass case beneath a lion's head. He shined his light at it. "Hm…this looks interesting…"

"The only thing I'm interested in is getting out of here and washing my hair!" Daphne said.

Fred held up something. "I need to show this to Velma!"

"Velma, Velma, Velma!" Daphne cried. "Why is it when we're on a case, you always want Velma's opinion? Why don't you ever ask _my _opinion on something?"

"Okay," Fred said, holding some dust in his hand. "What do you make of this?"

"Well, it's not make up," Daphne said, wrinkling her nose. "Smells icky."

Fred rolled his eyes as he carefully sifted it into a small glass container and screwed on the lid. "That's really helpful," he said. "I never would have guessed it was icky without your help."

"Why don't you ask Velma out if she's so special?" Daphne demanded, folding her arms.

"Why are you being so difficult?" Fred insisted. "I…"

"Fred!" Daphne cried. "Look!" The red-headed giant had just entered the room.

"Get out, you fools!" the ghost ordered Fred and Daphne. "Get out, or you'll both die in this house! Hahahahah!"

"Oh yeah?" Fred yelled, chasing the ghost. The ghost went through the wall. Fred couldn't stop in time, and crashed into it. POW!

"Fred!" Daphne cried. "Are you okay?"

"Duh, tell me about the rabbit, George!" Fred said, a very strange grin on his face.

"George?" Daphne yelled. "Obviously, you're not okay!"  
"What happened?" Fred said, shaking his head.

"You just knocked yourself goofier than Shaggy and Scooby!" Daphne said.

"Well, that explains the headache," Fred said. "Where did that ghost go?"

"Right through the wall!" Daphne said. "I guess it's a real ghost!" She shivered.

"Not necessarily," Fred pointed out. "There might be another secret passage here someplace."

"This whole house is nothing but secret passages!" Daphne complained. She sat down in disgust on the one chair in the room. It was against one wall, and as she settled her full weight onto it, the wall suddenly spun around.

"FRED!" Daphne screamed.

"Good ol' Daphne!" Fred said. "You can always count on her to accidentally find secret passageways!" He sat down in the chair. The wall spun around.

Velma scratched her head. "Secret passages all over this house," she muttered, "so why can't I find one in here where that ghost just was?" She had tried everything except tear up the floorboards.

Velma wandered into the next room. The ballroom. As she looked about for clues… "Oof!" The wall had just swung around, and Daphne went flying into her. "Daphne! What do you think you're doing? Get off of me!"

"Velma?" Daphne cried. "Where am I?"

"On my spleen!" Velma said. "Get off!" The wall spun around again, and Fred fell on them.

"Ow!" Velma cried. "Get off, you're crushing me!"

"My hair!" Daphne sobbed. "It's all covered with dust now!"

"Oh, poor you!" Velma said sarcastically. "I think my colon's come loose!"

"Then use a semi-colon," Daphne said, brushing dust out of her hair and into Fred and Velma's faces.

"Oh brother," Velma said, rolling her eyes. "You're a rare brain, Daphne, and…hey! Don't brush that in my face!"

"Wait, there's something funny about this stuff," Daphne said, squinting at it.

"Why?" Velma demanded. "Because it didn't asphyxiate Fred and me?"

"No, because this isn't dust," Daphne said, "it's old dried make up!"

"Well, I think we know what that means then, gang," Velma said, looking at the stuff herself. Despite the amplification of her glasses, she couldn't see anything unusual about the substance.

"Right on," Fred said, grinning. "It's time to build a trap! We just need two volunteers to help us spring it!"

It was at that moment that the chair spun around again, and Shaggy and Scooby crashed into the others, knocking them back onto the floor again.

"Ah! Volunteers!" Fred and Velma said together.

Shaggy looked at Scooby. "Like, you thinking we zigged when we shoulda zagged too, Scoob?"

"Uh huh!" Sccoby sighed. "Were we wo wagain!"

…

The red headed giant walked through the house, looking about him for the kids and their dog. He opened a door and stepped into the dark ballroom. Suddenly, a small spotlight moved across the room until it stopped at a spot on the floor. A moment later, Shaggy, dressed like a magician, stepped into it. Shaggy took off his hat and bowed.

"Ladies and jerks," he said, "I am the Great Shagdini, prestigidator…er…pretidigitator…er…magician extraordinaire."

Fred had rigged up a thin wire to the ceiling and ran his flashlight up it to make a spotlight. He'd placed Daphne in charge of it since he and Velma were holding a net at the other end of the room to catch the giant.

The red headed giant started towards Shaggy. Trying his best to ignore him, the teenager signaled. "And, with me, is my lovely assistant, Scoobtina."

Scooby rolled his eyes as he stepped into the circle of light. He was wearing a magician's assistant outfit and walking on his hind legs. The high heels on the shoes made him stagger and nearly fall more than once.

"And now for the Great Shagdini's latest and greatest trick," Shaggy said. He threw a cloth over the giant. "I shall now recite the magic words. Chocolate shake deluxe with a double order of French fries and a prune Danish!"

As the giant was tugging at the cloth, Scooby tossed a banana peel onto the floor at his feet.

"Like, let's do our disappearing act now, Scoob!" Shaggy said, running.

"Wi'm with wou, Waggy!" Scooby said, as he followed Shaggy towards where Fred and Velma were hiding.

Unfortunately, the banana peel trick had worked too well. The giant slipped on it and crashed into Scooby. The two of them slid across the floor into the wall. Bam! Both staggered as they attempted to get up.

"Meh, close enough," Fred said, as he and Velma dropped the net, trapping both of them.

"Let me go, you fools!" the giant cried, yanking at the net. Scooby grabbed his boot with his teeth. To everyone's horror, the giant's leg came off in his mouth.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy cried. "A wooden leg?"

"Specially made stilts to make our friend appear taller than he really is," Velma explained.

"Now let's see if it's who we think it is!" Fred said dramatically, reaching for the giant's mask. He glared at Velma as she moved faster, ripping it from the giant to reveal a thin, sharp featured face they'd met before.

"Bluestone the Magician!" Velma cried. "Ah hah! I knew it!"

"Thought you'd get your revenge, didn't you?" Fred taunted him. "Well, you're going right back to jail!"

"You misunderstand my motives," the once world famous magician said. "I was attempting to protect you children!"

"Protect us?" Velma demanded. "From whom or what, might I ask?"

"From me!" came a rough voice. The Scooby gang looked up to see a man glaring at them. He was big and rough-looking. And he looked crazy.

And he was holding a gun.

To be concluded

I know, I haven't updated in two and a half years. There's one chapter left and I hope to upload it in a couple of months. Sorry for the wait.


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